The correspondence was discussed and it was decided to await any reply from J Chapman. The possibility of inviting J Chapman to attend our next meeting was mentioned, so that the process that the Working Group intended to follow could be explained.

5. Settlement Area of Kynaston

Discussion of communication with K Johnson of Herefordshire Planning Department concerning the local authorities failure to identify Kynaston as a settlement was considered not to take into account either the views of local people, or the reality that Kynaston is quite clearly a ’settlement’, and has been so for generations, with a defined settlement pattern and 12 dwellings within the main settlement area, of which 6 are council built houses. The Parish Council Chairman was requested to put forward the following recommendation at the next Parish Meeting.

Recommendation:
That the Parish Council decides to treat Kynaston’ as a ‘settlement’ within the meaning of Core strategy Policy RA2 for the purpose of the draft Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP), rather than rely on the possibility that housing land can be identified within the scope of Policy H2 – Rural exception sites where:

1) a proposal could assist in meeting a proven local need for affordable housing; and
2) affordable housing provided is made available to, and retained in perpetuity for local people in need of affordable housing; and
3) a site respects the characteristics of its surroundings, demonstrates good design and offers reasonable access to a range of services and facilities normally in a settlement identified in Policy RA2.

6. Version 2.1 of Draft NDP

Version 2.1 was discussed in some detail.
In particular the group considered Policy MM9 and agreed that as drafted it provided the necessary flexibility to accommodate a range of community facilities e.g. The Barton’s, sportsfield, and graveyard (including the possibility of extension, subject to a suitable site being identified.
Action
J Marsden to incorporate any amendments and produce a further Version 2.2 of the draft NDP.

J Gibbon to forward the revised Version 2.2 to the full Working Party with the request that any suggested additions/amendments be submitted J Marsden by email, hand written or track changes to the original document by Monday 4 July.
Members of the Parish Council would also be asked to comment on Version 2.2 of the document, which would be forwarded to them by the Chair/Clerk.

It was suggested that an extraordinary meeting of the Parish Council Meeting is arranged
during the second half of August (i.e. following the scheduled Working Party meeting on 18th) to consider and review a further draft Version 3.0 of the draft NDP.

At this stage the draft NDP will be evolving towards its final draft form, having been updated by J Marsden to take into account any suggested additions/amendments, and with a quality assurance (QA) review undertaken by J Weston.

Further QA review will be undertaken by S Tagg, before the document is referred for informal consultation and advice to K Johnson of Herefordshire CC Planning Department, prior to final consultation with the Parish Council at its September meeting.

The draft NDP will then be submitted to Herefordshire Council for approval prior to
formal public consultation (Regulation 14) for six weeks in October/November.

9. Locality Grant Application

A sub-group comprised of the Parish Clerk, T Weston. J Weston and J Gibbon are to meet at a mutually convenient time in order to submit a Locality Grant Application for £2500 in order to:

finalise the Evidence Base Summary,

provide quality assurance by S Tagg prior to submission at Regulation 14 stage and public consultation, and

assistance towards publication costs.

10. Schedule of future meetings

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 12th July.
The meeting scheduled for 20th July is cancelled.
Subsequent meetings are due to be held on
Tuesday 2nd August
Wednesday 17th August
Tuesday 30th August, and
Wednesday 21st September.